Whoops! (Title WIP)
by KatherineBlackwell
Summary: Summary WIP
1. Chapter 1

Chat Noir exhaled a sigh of relief. "One down, one to go." He murmured to himself, going the opposite direction. Penny, rockstar Jagged Stone's pink haired assistant, was making her way out of the living room and down the main stairs of the building, joining her entourage shortly (or should they say Jagged Stone's entourage). Chat looked up the stairs leading to his friend, Marinette's room, a dreaded march sounding through his head as he took each step by step upwards. Leather ears twitched with agitation on his head and his skin felt itchy under the skin tight leather suit he wore on his body. Chat raked his sharp clawed, leather gloves through his bright blonde hair. His leather tail curled around his ankles as a heavy weight grew in his chest. As he neared the top of his path, he heard… crying? Chat peaked over the edge of the stair, green eyed pupils dilating and dreading the conversation he was about to have with Marinette in front of his partner, Ladybug. His ears flattened against his head, looking to his left towards Marinette's very pink desk. And then, suddenly, his brows went straight up with his ears and he booked it the rest of the way up into his friend's room.

Still clad in her black polka dotted red suit, Ladybug sat at the desk with head buried into the crook of her arm as she rested against the table top. Her deep blue-black hair reflected in the overhead light with each shuddering breath she took. Chat dared to reach out a hand to rest on her shoulder.

"Ladybug?"

In a flash, hands suddenly grabbing him by the throat, finding him pinned to the floor with his partner straddling him. As attractive as he found the position being, he couldn't fathom why she shook with rage. He held absolutely still, giving her time to calm down. Brilliant blue eyes widened through her red spotted mask and she released her grip, bouncing off of him and apologizing profusely.

"I'm so sorry. Oh god." Ladybug curled into herself, arms wrapping around her knees, knocking into the desk behind her. "I'm an idiot. I can't believe I thought this was a good idea."

Chat sat up, rubbing his throat awkwardly, trying to make sense of the words coming out of her mouth. He began to feel the echoes of a hint into her civilian life, which he quickly doused that thought out. "Oh god, now _everyone_ knows. He _knows._ "

"My lady, no one saw, not even me. Your miraculous is safe." Chat quickly assured her, daring to rest an arm around her shoulders. Didn't they just go over this downstairs in the kitchen? She quickly shook her head, as the timer on her earrings rang- his ring's beep quickly following with more urgency. He estimated about 3 minutes before the illusion fell- her's just a minute behind.

"Please leave." She begged him, digging fingers into her hair. He shook his head.

"It's fine. You're overthinking this." He had meant to draw her into his arms in comfort but she shot up out of his range and went to a corner of the room. He stood with her, meaning to follow. "Ladybug, please. Let's get out of here before the timer runs out."

"No!"

"M'Lady…"

"Get out of my room!"

A cold shiver ran down Chat's back as she faced him in rage, looking as if she was ready to beat the world down with both of her curled fists. Seconds ticked by as the words registered in her mind and she covered her mouth in shock. He stood there, staring and equally shell shocked in return. _Oh! OH!_

"Mari—?"

"Please go." She whimpered. She brushed past him, sitting at the desk- _her desk_ \- again. There was a gentle murmur, a flash of pink light and suddenly Marinette Dupain-Cheng took her place, pigtails and all with her face tucked into her hands. Chat felt the tug in his heart- stronger than ever- again. It was all coming together again. The lame excuses, exhaustion on her face on some days, the tardies at school, her appearance in general… just when he let it go- the answer was right there in front of him all along. He was not disappointed at all. Shocked, yes. But, far from disappointed. In fact, _it made sense now._

He watched in silent amazement as a red sprite buried herself into the crook of Marinette's neck, comforting her chosen in a soft tinkling voice. Respecting their moment together, he looked around the room with eyes zeroing in on the several posters of his civilian face. Seeing a few stray papers still on the floor, he resolved to gather them up into a neat stack and smoothed out the crumpled pictures as best as he could. A very high pitched clearing of throat echoed through the room and he turned to see the red sprite sitting on a decorative pillow on the chaise next to him. He took a second to register that she had bright blue eyes too, before she was in his face.

"Marinette asked you to leave." Paper thin antennae bounced around the black spot on her head. Chat glanced at the girl in question, who watched him in return with worry. He sighed in defeat, setting the stack of papers on the chaise gently. His eyes met the Kwami's and saw many emotions in them— worry, anger and… fear. Chat blinked, shocked that she felt that way. He cupped his hands together, allowing her to rest in them. She had to be tired as hell, after all that fighting. He bit his top lip, eyes bouncing between the pictures on the wall, Marinette and finally the tiny sprite. On one hand, he felt like a total asshole for not seeing the obvious affection his friend had for him and/or ignoring it. On another, it was just deserts that she didn't know that his civilian self was right in front of her and she had continually cock blocked him all this time. Adrien Agreste couldn't afford to be that asshole, but Chat Noir could. Sometimes. He let out an aggravated sigh and letting the thought go. Once more looking over the room and the beings in it, he stepped closer to Marinette with his hands still out.

"I'll be back later." He softly promised to the Kwami sprite, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Please take good care of her until then." He handed the shocked and pink cheeked sprite to her mistress in question. Marinette's eyes met his, reminding him that she had Mandarin roots. "Don't get akumatized, m'lady. I would be absolutely heartbroken if anything were to happen to the girl of my dreams." He quickly placed a chaste kiss on her cupped fingertips and bolted out of the skylight door above her bed— leaving behind a squawking civilian and her Kwami.


	2. Chapter 2

Adrien rolled onto his couch and stared at the ceiling thoughtfully. Well today was certainly busy , he thought to himself. To his left, the tv sat blaring about a high end car with luxury seats and spectacular gas mileage. Adrien didn't care. He reached for the remote and clicked it off. Instead, loud munching noises filled the room as his Kwami made himself comfortable with the cheese and sourdough platter on the coffee table. Adrien side eyed the cat-like sprite with big acid green eyes who, right now, had the biggest appetite in the world.

"You okay?" The sprite asked, feigning disinterest.

"Yes, why?"

"You're not freaking out." The sprite burped, rubbing his plump little tummy. "You're freaking me out."

Adrien gave him a deadpan expression. "I can tell. Woah is you." He replied sarcastically, "Plagg, I'm fine." He was— kind of. Granted, he was more concerned for Marinette and her blowing her own cover. It was grounds for Hawk Moth akumatizing her and Adrien could not let that happen. He needed Marinette. "I hope you don't mind, but I would like to visit her again tonight. To… check in on her." Honestly, he didn't care that his theory was right after all this time of looking. He would worry about that another time.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, visiting your girlfriend?" Plagg gulped down another piece of cheese as Adrien deadpanned him again. "Besides, since when do you ask?"

Adrien blinked at Plagg and sat up quickly, regarding his guardian thoughtfully. On impulse, he wanted to snark an off handed comment about Plagg and his own demanding nature. But, when he thought about it, Plagg was right— Adrien had never once asked to transform. It had always been a quick command and on to the job. He rolled his bottom lip through his teeth for a moment. " Plagg, does that make me a bad miraculous holder? To always command you to change into Chat Noir?"

Plagg blinked, mouth open wide and ready to chow on another bite. He closed his mouth, setting the cheese beside him with a sigh. Adrien was mildly surprised something could come between the cat-god and his beloved cheese. Plagg eyed Adrien with a thoughtful expression before replying. "No…" Plagg paused, and Adrien heard it too.

"Adrien?" They blinked at each other before Plagg bolted for his usual hiding spot in Adrien's shirt.

"Adrien?" There came the knock again before his bedroom door was opened revealing Natalie, his father's executive assistant. She entered the room, looking suspiciously around the room before laying eyes on her charge. In her hands, she held her work tablet out in front of herself.

Silvery-blonde hair, stylish reading glasses and a scowl greeted Adrien from the tablet screen the closer Natalie came to the couch. Adrien's eyes met Natalie's stoic blue stare and she shrugged. This was just as sudden for her too, apparently.

"There is a change in your schedule this week." His father informed him through the tablet without a beat or a proper greeting for that matter. He never looked up from whatever had his focus in the home office across the hall as he spoke. "You will be in studio for the next few days and we are pushing back your outdoor shoots, in light of recent events with the production team." Translation: I saw the show as well, and I'm displeased with the potential publicity from it. Or, at least, that's how it translated in Adrien's head.

Adrien pursed his lips, nodding. He was too tired to argue right now. "Yes, father." At least it was a small change instead of one that would impact his schooling and activities.

"That would be all." The screen went blank as Gabriel Agreste cut off the video feed.

Adrien sighed. "I hope he's not punishing her or me because of this." He muttered aloud to himself, forgetting for a moment that Natalie was still in the room. She didn't acknowledge the statement— only making her way to his bedroom door, pausing to remind him that he had piano practice later in the afternoon. Once she was gone, he flopped back onto the couch with a groan and tucking his head into the bend of his arm.

"Plagg?"

He felt his companion shift in his breast pocket. "Kid?"

"I'm taking a nap."

"Take a nap. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Thank you"

Chat swore it was like coaxing a cat from a tree. He winced as she slammed his paws between the skylight door and its frame. "Marinette, please." Fencing practice was going to suck tomorrow.

"No. Go away. I'd rather die in misery, knowing Adrien never had a chance to hate me."

Beside Chat was a clear glass jar with a fluttering moth inside, black with neon lavender lines across its wings like lightning. He looked down at the jar and then the window. Really….? He sighed, fingers aching and losing feeling at the same time. "Ladybug, come on. I need you to purify this akuma so that no one gets hurt. Seriously."

"Sorry, Ladybug can't come to the phone right now. Please leave a message and she'll never return it, because she's DEAD! BEEEEEEEEP!" Marinette pulled the door even harder on her side, crushing his fingers. Did she just…? Chat yowled, but stood his ground. Like hell was he going to let her say things like that.

"If you don't come out here, so help me god, I will tell Alya." He yelled into the open crack of the frame, resorting to the cheap shot of outing her secret to the world. He would do it too, if she continued to be a stubborn asshat.

The window stopped wiggling, loosening some and she peeked her bright blue eyes at his through the crack, her head taking some of the pressure off of his fingers. "You wouldn't dare…" She growled, glaring at Chat. He had the balls to smirk— no one could make glaring look as cute like she could.

"I would and I will, if you don't get your cute face out here and cleanse this poor moth." He threatened, completely annoyed. She pushed the framed door open a little more- earning him the stink eye. He took advantage of her distraction by yanking open the window completely, pulling her onto the balcony and thrusting the jar in her hands. "You made a promise to the city of Paris." He reminded her softly. "If I hadn't caught this when I did, **you** would be akumatized!" He sighed, breathing heavily. He had been following that moth for an hour now, as it floated and bobbed around her home. The jar was just a lucky circumstance, sitting on her patio gathering dust when he had grabbed it.

She gasped and then hung her head in shame, going silent. After a few moments, she examined the jar with interest. Standing, Marinette called for her transformation and whipped out her yo-yo to get the job done. Chat sat, suddenly transfixed by the change with a goofy grin on his mouth. She scowled at him releasing the now white moth and reverting back to her civilian form, sitting on her lawn chair resting in a corner of her balcony. The red Kwami murmured to her softly before going downstairs. Chat massaged his fingers, clearing his throat and sitting next to her on the chair as well. They sat like this, in silence for some time, watching each other's hands awkwardly.

Chat was the first to break the silence. "You're stubborn. You know that, right?" He was semi-annoyed but not enough to hate her for it. This was probably the first time he got a chance to see this side of her first hand. Outside of costume, that is.

She stuck her tongue out at him, crossing her arms and leaning back against the balcony railing behind them. Real mature and cute, he thought to himself. "Tiki says I worry too much." She said, after a while. "I'm sorry for being a prat."

"Tiki is the smartest being in the world." He replied, chuckling slightly and accepting her apology. "Where is she?" Their eyes met with smiles. "I'm assuming that's your kwami's name, of course."

Marinette nodded, "It is her name. Tiki is napping right now. She's the greatest friend I've ever had, outside of Alya of course." She booped his nose, chuckling. "And yourself."

"So, I'm an afterthought!? M'Lady, how rude!" Chat faked surprise, resting a paw against his chest. Marinette smiled, but he could tell her heart wasn't into it when she bit her lip and looked away. "It's a little weird hearing it on this side of the suit, isn't it?'' He asked her softly, clearly addressing the elephant in the room.

She nodded, hugging herself against the cool breeze that flowed around them. "It is." She agreed, a nervous giggle quickly following.

"Would it help if I take the cat suit off to even the playing field?" Chat asked playfully, and somewhat seriously. "You might even see something you like~"

She snorted indignantly, probably suspecting a single hidden agenda. Little did she know…. "Its best we not. It's bad enough I ousted myself. I don't want to put you, your friends or your family in danger."

The Adrien side of himself frowned deeply. "Will you come back to school tomorrow?" He asked instead, hoping she'd say yes.

Marinette shook her head no, suddenly self conscious. She caught the hidden question within the question: are you okay? "I need to time to let the drama die down a little before I go back. I sent an email to all my teachers to let them know what's going on and asked Alya if she could bring me my homework. That and…" she paused, pensively. "I don't think I can handle how Chloe is going to be tomorrow. If you knew her as well as I did, you'd understand." Oh, he understood alright. Adrien grew up with Chloe Bourgeois and knew first hand how much of a snob she could be. Chat just simply nodded, smiling softly and feigned ignorance. "I just need time."

"Well, if she gets out of hand, let me know and I'll straighten her out. Her and anyone else." He declared, nudging her gently. "Even that sweet prince of yours. I'll show him what he's missing out on!" He found it a little ridiculous that he was actually talking about himself, but she didn't need to know that. It drew a smile out of her at least. "I'll take you on a romantic date, send you flowers every day, serenade you through the window…."

She laughed, kicking him gently with her foot. "Stop it! Adrien isn't that kind of person… or at least, I don't think he is. He's always been kind and patient with me,... even when I'm a stuttering hot mess." She giggled and nudged him again with her foot. He caught it, tickling it lightly with his claws. She yanked her foot back, sighing. They sat like this for sometime before she spoke again. "Thank you for checking in on me."

He smiled. "You're welcome, princess." He didn't need to tag the nickname with a cat pun this time as he watched her smile grow. He stood quickly, after checking the time on his baton. "I should go. I have an early day tomorrow... plans to make… people to please…." He scooped up her hand and kissed her fingertips gently, smirking as she hitched a breath. "Shall I stop by tomorrow?" Chat asked, dropping his voice into husky tones. The shit-eating grin on his lips earned him a scowl, and she pulled her fingers from his grasp.

"Only if you promise to be good." She reminded him, with a flick of his nose. "I'll even set out a dish of cream and prep the litter pan."

It was his turn to scowl at her cat comments as he straightened his back with a scoff. With a small bow, he hopped on the railing and readied his weapon to extend out to a neighboring roof. "Until tomorrow, my love." With a quick blow of a kiss, he was off into the night, just barely missing the flush on her cheeks.


	3. Chapter 3

A body flinched under very pink covers as a cell phone buzzed and rang over her head. Marinette groaned, pushing the cover off her head and reaching for the angry device. Blue eyes peeked at the picture floating on the screen and she pressed ignore. She hoped her best friend would understand her need for sleep. She rolled over, clumsily putting the phone back on its designated shelf.

"Marinette?"

The girl peeked up at the shelf above her head at her other best friend. "Morning, Tiki." Marinette smiled softly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

A tinkling sound filled the room as the red sprite giggled. "It's the afternoon! How late did you stay up last night?"

"I couldn't sleep." She murmured, staring at the hatch above. She had spent the better part of her night thinking about yesterday, and last night. "Chat didn't stay long. He said he needed to get home." It looked beautiful outside today, and she considered climbing up to the balcony to people watch.

Tiki floated down from her bed and landed near Marinette's head. "Are you okay?" She rubbed a paw through Marinette's hair, concerned for her chosen.

Marinette hummed a response, closing her eyes and relaxing for a moment. "Tiki, am I overreacting again?" She certainly thought she had.

"A little. But it's justified." The sprite agreed, nuzzling into her hair. "But, that's something that's never changed over time- how delicate girl's hearts can be."

Marinette hummed again. "Thank you, Tiki." She appreciated the honesty from her little friend.

They laid there for a few moments more before Marinette pried herself off her bed to climb up the ladder to the rooftop balcony. She leaned against the railing, watching the students leave the school across the street for the lunch hour. She eyed a familiar head of blonde hair make his way to a silver car. He seemed to sense her gaze as he looked up at the top of the Bakery. She flinched, taking a step back from the rail. Adrien raised a hand, waving at her with a small smile- or it looked like one to her. It seemed even from a distance, it still tripped her heart. Marinette yelped.

She twiddled her fingers at him nervously, watching his smile grow into this very attractive smirk. Marinette grinned, kind of. It felt forced and it hurt her cheeks a little. Her eyes even blurred as well, as she watched him get in the car to leave. She took a deep breath, remembering the promise she made to herself last night: she would move on from this and focus on more important matters, like saving Paris and making sure her homework was done by the due date. Yes, that has to come first now. And making sure she does copious amounts of chores for her parent's to make up for yesterday's fiasco.

She sat herself down into the lawn chair, heart racing again. Closing her eyes, she wiped stray tears from her as she listened to her beloved city below. Marinette could hear the jingling of the bell in her parent's shop below. Cars honked horns and engines revved as they turned corners. Children in the park across the street squealed with joy on the Merry-Go-Round and on the swings. People chattered on phones and to their friends as they walked down the sidewalks and across streets. She curled around her knees, head buried, as she heard an advertising billboard in the distance playing scenes from yesterday's attack.

Several minutes later, she heard the familiar twitter and whoosh before Chat landed with a soft thump on her balcony. Cool leather cupped her cheek, pulling her face from her knees. The motion made her dizzy for some reason. "Marinette, breathe." Came his command.

She peaked at him, sucking in a deep breath. "Sorry, I didn't know I was doing that." She mumbled weakly, blinking stars out of her eyes. Her hands darted forward and draping around his shoulders as she waited for the world to stop spinning. They sat like that for some time, Chat's lips brushing against her forehead eventually drawing them apart. His thumb brushed over her cheek one more time before he dropped the hand all together.

"Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

Marinette shook her head no.

"That was some serious meditating you were doing, Marinette." She could tell he was worried.

"Well, if someone you loved smiled at you the way he did me, you'd nearly have a heart attack too." She quipped, meeting very wide green cat eyes and pink cheeks. One hand failed to hide the shit-eating grin as he cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Well, at least you had the sense to sit down after it happened." He responded after a time, gesturing to her balcony railings. "I wouldn't want your pretty head impaled on a pike."

She felt brave enough to scoff and boop that nose out of her personal space- since when did he get so close to her? "And who would keep you in line?" It was easy to slip into their usual conversations.

He blinked at her, grinning like a fool. "So… you love him?" He asked weakly. _What the hell, Chat?_ Of all the times to ask that….

It was her turn to blink, her face lighting up like a furnace. She cleared her throat, feeling like her legs would go to jelly as she twirled hair around her finger nervously. _Leave it to the cat to stir the pot._ "I don't know for certain… I know I've never felt like this about anyone else in the past. I wish…" She trailed off, realizing who she was speaking to at that moment and guilt grew in her chest. This wasn't her friend Alya or Tiki. This was a boy under that mask who made it abundantly clear to her weeks ago— on this very balcony, she reminded herself— that he was in love with Ladybug. Herself. Marinette bounced out of her seat and brushed past him, aiming for the skylight door to her room. To escape the panic mode to come.

He seemed to read her mind as he scooped an arm around her stomach, pulling her close to him. "I'm sorry." He said instantly, burying his head into her shoulder from behind. She stilled, breath bated. "My curiosity got the better of me. I just needed to know how you _truly_ felt about him."

"It's not fair." She said finally, releasing air.

"I know. And I'm sorry." He mumbled, tightening his grip.

"No. It's not fair to you or him." She explained further. "I shouldn't be talking about him when I know how you feel about me." She tried to make her words as gentle as possible. Yes, be firm but polite as well.

He sighed. "I wish… " It was his turn to loose that train of thought. "You know your friendship means the world to me, right?" He finally said, seemingly struggling with what to say to her.

She nodded, turning slightly to face him. "Yes, I do." She stated, in case he didn't notice.

"Good." He released her, as if all was right with the world now, and leaned against the railing beside them casually. Chat beamed her with a megawatt smile, tail twitching with some unknown excitement to her. She, of course, rolled eyes and joined him. The changes in temperament were giving her a bit of whiplash.

Marinette found her mind slipping into Ladybug mode for the millionth time in the last 24 hours, as they watched the city together. She had thought long and hard about this all night— especially after she was almost akumatized. What would have happened? How would Chat function without her there? She didn't want to think about what would have happened to the earrings and Tiki either. Marinette had expected the reprimand of a lifetime from Tiki, but Chat seemed to do enough yelling for the both of them. Or Maybe Tiki was looking for the right time….

"Marinette?"

The sweet voice of her Kwami pulled her from her thoughts, a ringing phone dangling from her tiny arms. Marinette blinked and took the phone to close out the call, blue meeting blue before glancing over at Chat. He seemed focused, lips frowning deeply as he looked at his own chirping baton. Tiki buried herself into Marinette's hair, nuzzling her gently.

"I'm sorry, I'm still sorting myself out after all this mess." She explained to them both. "Mama and Papa had a talk with me about what happened. They aren't angry with me, but the situation could have been handled better."

Chat gave her a weak smirk. "So no celebrity visits with television broadcasts in the patisserie ever again?"

"Yep." There was a soft pop on the _p_ on her response, which only made Chat's grin grow ten-fold.

"That's a shame, but also a blessing."

"How so?"

"How will I tell the world about the girl I love?" He purred, shifting closer to her. "But, I get to keep you all to myself."

She met him head on with a deadpan expression and turned away for a moment when she felt fire on her cheeks. "Chat, please don't. You barely know me— the real me."

Chat frowned, humming a single. The quick change scared her and sent a shiver down her spine at the same time. "What if…" He leaned in super close now, their noses nearly touching. She felt her eyes dilate dangerously. "I told you I was closer to you than you think I am?" There was laughter in his voice as he narrowed his eyes at her.

She snorted, indignantly. "Yeah, what if…." Marinette stated sarcastically, crossing her arms. That would be a little bit freaky, in her opinion. She eyed him anyway, trying to think of anyone outside of the suit that reminded her of him. Spoiler alert, she couldn't think of anyone. Not yet, at least.

There was another chirp from the baton in his hand. This one seemed a little more insistent. He checked it and sighed softly. "Well, as much as I would like to bask in your presence a little longer, I have an exam to get back to after lunch." He gave her teasing wink, scooping her hand up and kissing it delicately.

Marinette couldn't help but giggle at him, booping his nose with her free hand. "Go you, and I expect a perfect score on that test." She warned him playfully, wagging her pointer finger at the cat boy. The words seemed to jolt him for a moment.

He scoffed haughtily, recovering from the small blunder and stepping back a bit. "As if I would do anything less for you, M'Lady." Chat twiddled his fingers, and suddenly he was gone. She twisted around, following the sound of his boots thumping across rooftops.

It was only then that Marinette remembered she had a test today as well. She blanched, dreading the make up portion. Not that it was a difficult subject— it was French History after all. She chuckled a bit, and slipped into her room to study. Tiki seemed to giggle to herself knowingly.


	4. Chapter 4

(Chloe Bourgeois)

Chloe Bourgeois was having a fantastic day. The scent of coconut filtered around her as Sabrina, her assistant, sprayed a light coating of salt water and Mark Anthony Hair Oil into her hair. She felt a bristled brush pull through her hair as she filed her nails down to perfection. Chloe half wondered if she should schedule a spa day for herself, with all the good luck that's been happening around here lately.

She sighed, amused. Let's see, at lunch she had the finest sushi roll at her father's hotel. Finally, someone with half a brain figured out the type of salmon she liked with her veggies. It was perfect and it had better _stay_ that way if the chef wanted to keep his job.

Her outfit was pressed with care and to perfection, not a single stain on it at all. This damned bench she sat on had better be grateful she graced it with her presence. She tapped her foot impatiently as Sabrina pulled her hair into her usual ponytail and topped it off in her white rimmed sunglasses. It wasn't her mother's glasses but it was as close as possible.

 **Oh!**

And her sworn enemy embarrassed herself on public television this past weekend. Now _that_ was just the cherry on the top of her ice cream sundae, if she ever bothered to eat one at all. Chloe was brimming with so much joy, she could hum the French National Anthem for hours on end— albeit off key. Sabrina handed her a mirror to check her work and Chloe smirked at her redhead friend's reflection with satisfaction. Chloe set her file down to swipe on a coat of nude lip paint, before resuming her filing. Sabrina cleaned up the space around them while Chloe focused on a particularly off balanced nail.

 **BAM!**

There was a loud slamming of a locker door behind her and a low growl. Chloe flinched, mumbling a curse and a sneer at the culprit.

"Ugh! She is killing me!" She figured that annoying voice as Alya Cesaire. That girl was as much of a thorn in her side as the girl's friend was. Really, the only thing they could agree on was Ladybug. Even then, Alya needed to get her act together if she was going to keep reporting the latest updates on this weekend's akuma attack. Chloe would have killed to have the front row seat to her enemies embarrassment, but national television did the work for her. But, Chloe personally ensured Marinette received copious amounts of hate mail from " _Adrien's fans_ ", just to solidify the point.

Chloe scoffed to herself, throwing the tool in her purse and instead focused on pulling her high end backpack out of the locker. _Clearly, no one could file their nails in peace around here._ She handed it to Sabrina, who filled it with the appropriate books for her next classes, not that she should bother. Chloe hardly payed attention in class anyway.

"She's still not picking up?" That was Nino, Alya's… _whatever_ he was to her.

Sabrina handed her a folder from her own backpack and Chloe swiped it from her hands without checking the contents. That was one thing she could always count on for Sabrina, is that her homework would always get top scores. If only she could get the girl to take her tests too…. Maybe the teachers would stop asking her father why she " _sounded so smart on paper_ _but… not so smart in class."_

"No, she keeps sending me to voicemail." Alya was obviously talking about that train wreck friend of hers. "She only responds to texts."

Chloe scoffed again, closing her locker finally. "Obviously, she doesn't want to talk to anyone after Jagged Stone saw her room. That girl has a sick obsession. We all saw the walls of her room."

"You wanna run that by me again?" Came the reply from behind her. Chloe shared a Cheshire smile with the redhead beside her as she zipped up her backpack.

"That girl is a mess. I don't know why you bother with her." Chloe threw over her shoulder, meeting Alya's eyes for a moment. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng is an embarrassment. Seriously, look what happened on public television." Students crowded around the conversation, some in anger and others in annoyance. Looks like another round of suspension was in order today.

Movement shifted behind Chloe and a book slammed against the locker to her right. Or left? _**Who cares?**_ Chloe whipped around, enraged and glaring at the tan skinned girl with red highlighted tips at the end of her brown hair. She watched as Alya reached for another book and she screamed, her heart accelerating as she ducked behind Sabrina.

"What's going on over here?"

Oh thank god! Adrien, her hero~, forced his way through the crowd of students to the girls. Chloe peaked out from behind Sabrina as Adrien rested a hand against Alya's book. Chloe took advantage of the situation while she still had the chance.

"Adrikins!" She cried, shoving Sabrina out of her way. Chloe rolled her eyes as the girl yelped, dropping books and bags all over the floor. "Alya is being cruel and throwing books at me." She threw herself at him. _Wow, his arms felt so strong,_ she thought as she brushed fingers over his biceps gingerly.

"I see that." He grumbled as he pushed her hands off of him. Leave it to Adrien to be as frank as possible, something he had been doing a lot lately towards her. Adrien looked to Alya expectantly. "What is going on?"

"Tell him what you said about Marinette." Alya demanded, throwing her book to the floor instead.

"Why bother?" Chloe stated. "Adrikins, you saw what her room looked like, didn't you? She clearly has a stalker issue. Sabrina has seen the calendar she keeps of your schedule. Besides, my walls aren't covered with your face because I'm not afraid to show my love to you."

That was all he needed as an explanation evidently. He sighed heavily, looking to the ceiling defeatedly. Chloe felt her brow curl in concern for her beloved one. "Chloe…" he groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. "We need to talk. Privately."

Chloe did not like where this conversation was going already. If she had learned anything from the movies, is that those words were usually followed by bad news. Students muttered around them. Adrien's eyes trailed to them, as if to make a point. Chloe rolled her eyes, thinking he was being dramatic now. "Whatever you have to say to me you can say to Sabrina too." Sabrina, having gathered herself and their things up off the floor, nodded eagerly and joined her side.

Adrien frowned deeply, vaguely reminding Chloe of his father, Gabriel, whenever someone did not do something to his liking. "Look, I'm trying to be respectable and you are making it difficult. I want to speak to you in private." He repeated, putting a little more force into his words. He made a point to glare at Sabrina.

Chloe felt her back straighten at that tone. Okay, now he was starting to sound like his father too. Alya and Nino's eyebrows shot up in shock, glancing between each other. She narrowed her eyes at them— it was their fault after all.

"Fine." She huffed, brushing past them all after dropping her purse in Sabrina's already full hands. She missed the apologetic glances Adrien shared with his friends as he assured them he would _resolve the issue_. Whatever that meant.

(Alya Cesaire)

She watched Adrien and Chloe from afar, rooted in her place near the classroom door in shock. No one dared to walk in that room until they knew it was safe to. Hell had officially frozen over if calm and caring Adrien was as pissed as he looked.

Chloe was waving her finger in his face and Adrien looked about ten seconds away from punching something very hard. Alya watched as Adrien's closed fists tighten and hook behind him as he glowered at the screaming girl, lips pursed tightly.

Alya could not believe her luck that she was able to video record this from this far back. She watched as Adrien said something that effectively shut the screaming girl up for a few seconds.

Alya could barely read the word "What" on Chloe's lips before Adrien gave his explanation. The girl's face paled as he dropped word garbage on her- sometimes gesturing to the door that they had walked through moments before with one hand.

"What are you doing?"

Alya dropped her phone with a yelp, jumping at the sound of Nino's voice beside her. She exhaled a sigh of relief when the drop didn't shatter the screen and scooped the phone up off the floor. Nino met her eyes, suspicion floating beneath the bill of his baseball cap. He adjusted his glasses as music sounded from the expensive headphones resting on his shoulders that he had bought last week.

"Nothing." Came her immediate response. _Protecting Marinette's interests..._

Nino clearly did not believe her. Nino was too smart for his own good. He took the phone from her hand, fiddling with it for a moment before giving it back to her. She thanked her lucky stars that she had the video on auto back-up, in cases like this. If being best friends with a klutz had taught her anything in life, it was to always have videos on backup.

"You shouldn't have done that." Nino grumbled, tossing a potato chip into his mouth. "Adrien is the only person Chloe is willing to listen to. Just let my man get whatever it is off his chest in peace. You've got nothing to worry about."

"It's not him I'm worried about." She replied flatly, turning back to the door in time to see Adrien open and slam it shut in one fluid movement, exiting without a word to her or Nino either. The window shook in its frame as they watched Adrien walk down the flight of stairs with a face of stone, leaving through the front entrance of the school. Only Alya dared to look back in the room to see a grief stricken Chloe sitting at her desk.

She almost felt sorry for her.

 _Almost._


	5. Chapter 5

(Adrien- five days later...)

 _Nope._

 _He should have listened._

The towel fell to the floor, rusting with wetness from her fair skin. Blue-black hair glinted in the sunlight as it hung loose and wet over her shoulder- halting him at the top of the stairs.

Her father had warned him. _Why the hell did he not listen to Mr. Dupain?!_ He had warned him that Marinette was not ready for visitors. To come back another day. But Adrien snuck up the back entrance and into the loft apartment. He just wasn't expecting _that_ kind of "not ready".

 _This was not happening…._

The curve of her hip was just right in the mirror and he could see the reflection of her small perfect breasts. Adrien felt his toes curl in his kicks and he suddenly felt light headed.

It had been five days since the fight with Chloe and today, he was going to get it all out. Marinette had been avoiding him all week- as herself and as Ladybug. Dammit, it was Saturday and he was quite done with the hiding and ducking behind objects every time he tried to get her attention. And Alya… wasn't helping matters. Constant teasing on both him and Marinette….

 _Nope._

 _God, or whoever, strike him down now._

 _Please._

' _Or maybe not?'_ He thought as she leaned forward to dig matching light blue panties and bra from the bottom drawer of her dresser— his head tilting with her. Adrien was a growing boy after all…. His feet had somehow floated him closer to her.

He dropped his book in shock- the sound echoing destructively in this tiny pink room- when he saw a peekaboo of pink folds from between her legs. _Oh shit, she shaves there too?!_

He turned around quickly as soon as their eyes met in the mirror and she gasped, grabbing her towel. He cussed under his breath mid-turn, face on fire.

 _Yep._

 _This was happening._

 _He was screwed. Royally._

He mentally groaned at his own pun.

Adrien fiddled with his ring and bounced in his shoes as he thought of an excuse. His skin felt hot and cold at the same time. Heat pooled in his stomach, and maybe lower? Was this what a panic attack was like? Or was this what raging teenage hormones felt like? _Holy shit, what the fuck was going on with his…._

One more thing, Adrien had forgotten, for like... a second, was that this was Ladybug. Whose privacy he had just invaded. Visions of severe ass kicking filled his future and he shivered. Past Adrien did not think of Future Adrien.

"A-Adrien?"

' _Why the hell did she have to sound so adorable when she stuttered?!'_ He gulped, scooping his book up off the floor. He gasped out, making the mistake of looking over his shoulder to see she had draped the towel across her chest and had pulled on a silk pink robe. "I'll come back when you are decent." He winced at his words. "Not that you aren't decent… you look amazing as always…beautiful, actually. Even without the clothes." He groaned at his choice of words. "Really, you look fantastic…." _Shut up, Adrien._ "I'll g-go now. Sorry."

Hands grabbed the back of his shirt just as he was about to bolt out of there, and yanked him back into the room. Which was probably a good thing in hindsight- he almost went down the stairs through the top of the door instead of the bottom. She kicked the door shut soundly and pushed him onto the lounger, taking herself with him.

And there they were. In this awkward tangle of legs and skin and clothing and _holy shit, what the hell was wrong with him!?_ He watched her cheeks flush and never had he wanted to kiss her so badly. He was about to when she, instead, pushed herself away from him, standing quickly.

"What's up?" She asked him breathlessly (and casually, he noted), standing with her arms around herself.

He felt his skin pale. She didn't _look_ angry, but that didn't mean jack. His father was the king of keeping Adrien on his toes, but at the moment Marinette was giving him a run for his money.

"I, uh…. I wanted to t-talk to you?" He managed to blurt out inelegantly.

"So?" She commanded, obviously caught off guard by him being there. "Talk." Did he mention that she sounded so sexy when she bosses him around? Adrien felt it was a blessing that Plagg was in his bag, or maybe he was waiting for the right moment to antagonize his charge? Adrien exhaled a sigh of relief.

"I was worried about you, after everything that happened last weekend…" he paused as she sighed. "And then with the magazine covers and photos, I was-"

"About the photos," she winced, interrupting him and hugging herself closely, "I'm a big fan of your father's. I'm sure Alya and Nino have mentioned that I would like to be a designer someday. The pictures are of my favorites- which happen to feature you. I just figured there was nothing wrong with supporting my friend at the same time." She ended her explanation with a weak smile.

He sat up in his seat, watching her. His eyes strayed to the naked pink walls and he frowned with disappointment, until he noticed she missed one very obvious picture frame on her desk. He stood in relief, smiling gently and stepped towards her- in which she took a step back. They walked like this until he had her cornered against one of the legs of the loft bed. Adrien heard her breath hitch and butterflies rocketed around in his belly and his pants were starting to feel a little… tight? Eh, he would worry about the size of his pants later. Right now he was busy.

" _Are you lying to me?"_ He murmured softly to her, touching his forehead to hers. Adrien had to know. Well, he already knew, but he needed to hear it _again_. From her mouth directly. His inner cat begged to purr from the closeness as he rested a hand on her side, fingers gliding against the cool silk of her robe. Adrien watched her eyes dilate before their eyelids drooped slightly at the same time.

" _No… Yes?"_ She whispered as hands grazed along the lapel of his white shirt. " _I'm lying to myself….?"_ God, he hoped that was the truth.

Their noses brushed faintly. " _But you could have anyone you want…?"_ he questioned softly. " _You're beautiful... kind... smart and amazing."_ Wait a minute, were they talking about the same thing right now? His free hand cupped her cheek, tilting her head with his slightly. " _I would love-"_

" **Marinette?"**

The world around them froze and their eyes widened in shock.

 _Shit._


End file.
